In Circles
by tsukibeam
Summary: The sun and moon are locked in an eternal dance, forever destined to circle around the other...or something. Frankly, Zuko is tired of it. Fortunately, Katara and Aang just broke up. AU.
1. Break Up

When Zuko heard-from a nonchalant Toph-that Katara and the Avatar broke up, he wasn't surprised. Sure, he also felt some sympathy for them, since they were still friends (breakups weren't easy after all), but he wasn't surprised.

Not since Katara started spending her winters in the Fire Nation ("I love my home, but I also like being comfortable," she explained the first time). Not since Aang's visits grew less frequent with each passing year (three in total). And definitely not after the dozens of arguments Zuko accidentally walked in on (he had long stopped pretending it was an accident-to himself, at least. Katara needed comforting and he made a point to be there when she did need it).

He had been surprised, however, when Katara had showed up at the palace after he and Mai broke up a year earlier.

"I thought you needed a friend," she had explained as she wrapped him up in a tight embrace.

A friend was nice. Growing up, he had been short on those. And now as Fire Lord, there were too many politics involved with making new ones.

He was more surprised, though, when Katara showed up _again_ , a week after her own break up.

"It's not winter," he said when she strolled into the turtle-duck garden, looking forlorn and deflated. It wasn't a good look for her, he decided. Like a washed up otter-seal.

Katara had the good grace to let his obvious statement slide. She cast him the smallest of smiles instead and knelt to the edge of the pond, lifting some water into the air. "I needed a friend."

"What about Sokka? Or Toph?" It wasn't said with bitterness, only a disbelief that she would chose _him_. Don't get him wrong, he was pleased she chose him but he sort of considered himself the _last_ person one would go to for relationship advice. Mai told him it was because he was clueless. He had to agree with her.

Katara shook her head, her lush hair brushing against the bare skin of her arms. "I just thought…"

Zuko stared at her, waiting for her to finish her sentence, but when it was apparent she wasn't going to, he sank to the ground beside her. He didn't say anything or move for a few moments; he watched the water droplets dart through the air by her silent command. He flicked a wrist, sending little sparks to intertwine with them.

It was peaceful, or at least Zuko thought it was. He felt comfortable with Katara in a way he wasn't with Mai or even his uncle. Katara was soothing, her presence as calm as her element when it pleased her.

So, while enjoying the slight summer breeze, and thinking that maybe he should order some mango juice from the kitchens for them, he was mortified when Katara sniffled.

The water she bent fell back into the pond, hissing as it extinguished his sparks. He gave her a sideways glance, finally seeing the redness of her eyes as she stared with a trembling lip at the pond.

Katara looked up and read something in his expression that made her cheeks flush redder than they already were. She hastily scrubbed at the tears on her cheeks and rallied a smile that did not reach her eyes.

"Sorry," she said, turning to look back at the pond or the palace or whatever was in the direction ahead. Not him, though. She didn't want to look at him. "I'm being stupid."

Zuko snorted and shook his head. How could she ever think anything she did was stupid? "Remember tear bending? _That_ was stupid, not this."

That caused more tears to spill out, which alarmed him at first but then she laughed through them and shook her head. "It's weird how you're good at this now."

It took practice. He had been told many times (mostly by Mai, and then Katara) that he was clueless when it came to girls but after the fifth or sixth argument overheard with Aang, Zuko found himself learning the correct things to say (which usually meant agreeing with her or offering some scrap of validation).

"I'm glad you picked me," he told her, and he was. Her smile fell and he knew that more tears were coming.

Seeing her cry silently felt wrong. Seeing her hug herself, sitting alone, felt _worse_. So Zuko reached out and carefully slung an arm around her shoulders and pulled her to him. She complied instantly and let her head fall on his shoulder. Even in the stifling summer air, she somehow felt cool.

Her other hand sought his and he gave it to her, letting her thread her fingers through his. He stared at their joined hands, listened to her sniffling, and tightened his grip around her shoulders.

"Sokka is too brotherly for this sort of stuff," she said after a few minutes. "And Suki would just run to him. Ty Lee is too cheerful and Mai is too depressing."

He couldn't help but chuckle; he felt her own tiny smile through the layers of his robes. "And Toph?"

Katara merely scooted closer to him, her head going into the crook of his neck, and her other arm circling around his back.

"Toph wouldn't let me do this," Katara sighed, her warm breath brushing against his neck.

Any of the others probably would, Zuko thought, but he kept it to himself. Although, now that he thought about it, Sokka would probably complain about her hair getting in his face. Mai would sooner gut Katara than allow her to _cuddle_ her (same with Toph, probably), Ty Lee would probably gab about how blue auras were bad for digestion or something, and Suki...well, Suki would probably still be the best choice for this...

...Zuko glanced down at their entwined hands...he was glad she chose him.

* * *

Raise your hand if you're still not over this dream pair *raises both hands*

I'm rewatching Avatar, as is my annual tradition, and my hand slipped, creating this story. Whoops, not sorry. I hoped you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.


	2. Doodles

Inspired by my own doodles.

* * *

His uncle was smiling at him.

Zuko could _feel_ it. He looked up from his doodling and glanced across the council room table to meet his uncle's knowing and pleased smile. Zuko's eyes narrowed.

He had seen that smile often when he was still banished; it usually came when he did something that made his uncle proud, like learning how to make tea or, you know, saving the world.

It _usually_ meant teasing, a type of attention Zuko would rather _flee_ from than face. Things like falling on a flame spear or jumping off a cliff also come to mind.

There was no way he could get out of meeting with these ministers _now_ and he would sooner _actually_ fall on a flame spear than dismiss his uncle and the wisdom he offered...

So Zuko did what every mature and confident Firelord would do...he ducked his head and went back to doodling, pretending he _didn't_ see that _heart-warming_ smile.

A metaphorical escape. Doodles. How diplomatic.

* * *

Hours later, when the meeting had finished, and the palace was silent under the moonlight and stars, the same brave Firelord sat in his office with his best friend.

Katara reclined in her plush chair and propped her feet on his broad desk, causing parchment to flutter with barely a crinkle to the floor.

Zuko scowled from behind the desk but made no movement to pick them up. "You _say_ you're on vacation, but you don't have to treat my furniture-which is centuries old, by the way-like your personal spa lounge."

Katara didn't even deign to look up from the parchment she was reading (legal agreements for an exchange problem aimed for healers from their respective lands). "Don't talk to me that way, I'm grieving."

Zuko's lips twitched but he resisted the smile. He settled for an eye roll. "It's been a month, Katara. And _you_ broke up with _him_. My sympathy only lasts so far when it comes to _important_ Fire Nation documents."

"Then tidy them up."

Zuko pushed her feet off the desk.

They fell hard and noisily, the action so clumsy and un-Katara that Zuko snorted. She flashed him a glare which made his lips twitch again, betraying him as they finally bloomed into a smile.

He couldn't help it though. He liked it when Katara glared at him.

Maybe he was addicted to it. Her glares...or a smile, or...any look of hers in his direction, really, sent a hot rush through him.

And Agni, how she tried to look fierce. It once cowed him-it still sent lesser men running for the hills-but he liked the fierce display of emotion.

But really, at the end of the day, when she traded her day silks for cozy linen pajamas, and she let her hair down from its braid so that it looked like a fluffy cloud (soft, probably, his fingers twitching as he looked at it), she looked so sweet and endearing but, damn, she also looked...

Like she belonged in his office in the middle of the night with no servants or ministers to interrupt them.

At home.

Zuko sucked in a breath at the same time she rolled her eyes, breaking the...whatever it was that fell over them. He blinked, trying to remember what he had been thinking about before…

Katara slid off the chair before his desk and onto the floor, gathering the fallen parchment. "You should really get a secretary," she said with a shake of her head.

...her glare, he realized. He liked her fierce emotion. But he also liked her softness. Like the soft smile she was giving him now. His heart did a weird flippy thing.

"It won't do to have such a messy and unorganized Firelord," she continued. "Then you won't get pissy with _me_ and assault my poor feet when a few papers fall."

"Or _maybe_ ," he said, distracting himself from her lips-dusty pink, full, probably soft like her hair-by getting on the floor with her to help. "You should respect my chaos and _not_ knock things over."

She gave him a wry smile and handed him some sheets of parchment. They were wide enough that their fingers didn't brush; maybe that was a good thing, he thought with a frown. She reached for some more papers but her hand paused briefly.

"What's this?"

Zuko looked and saw her reaching for his sheet of notes, the one covered with doodles. A different sort of heat crept over his cheeks while she studied it, smiling at the various nonsense he had drawn.

"This is pretty cute," she giggled. Zuko scowled at the word and reached for it but she jerked it away, out of reach. "I thought you _rose with the sun_ -why so many stars and moons?"

Zuko sputtered, which probably wasn't a very good look. He felt like a fumbling teenager again, _not_ the dignified twenty year old Firelord entrusted with a great nation.

"Uh…"

So eloquent, he yelled at himself. Katara's smile didn't slip which made him feel all the more indignant.

"Stars are suns, too," he finished, like that was an answer to a question that stumped many scholars.

"Sure," Katara indulged, rolling up the parchment and sticking it carefully into her pants pocket, out of reach (he wasn't stupid enough to try). She stretched, her arms unfolding elegantly above her head while her back arched ever so slightly (Zuko bit his lip). "I'm going to get to bed."

"My notes…" he said, forcing his eyes from curve of her back.

She gave him a smile he couldn't read and stood (he also couldn't read her eyes-what was _that_ glint?), her hair swinging as she did. "Good night, Zuko."

When her padded steps finally faded and silence descended on the palace once more, Zuko threw himself back onto the plush carpet. He dug the heels of his palms into his brow and groaned.

" _Stars are suns, too_ ," he repeated to himself, incredulous and slightly offended that he would say something so _stupid_. "What the heck was that? Why not say something else stupid, while you're at it, like red and blue makes _purple_. _Ugh_."

And _that_ , Zuko realized, was probably what made his uncle smile in the first place.

Stars and moons. _Purple_.

Zuko groaned again.

* * *

Hello~

To answer a question: I'm going to shoot for five chapters. Just a quick, tidy fic for this, my favorite of OTPs. Thanks again for reading and reviewing!


	3. Indulge

"What is _that_?"

Zuko sat up, back pressed against the pillows and head of his massive bed. He had been two blissful seconds from falling asleep for the night (and what a long night it was, with the dinner party that seemed to drag endlessly) when he heard his door creak open.

He summoned a flame to his hand to discover Katara hesitantly poking her head into his private chamber, dark bottle in hand. Zuko squinted at the bottle she was holding, and then scowled, but didn't stop her from fully entering his bed chamber. "Can you maybe stop mooching my best reserves?"

"At least I'm sharing." Katara gracefully padded over the red carpet, as if _she_ were Firelord. She climbed into the giant bed, right into the middle where he half was, and gave a gentle shove. "Budge over."

Zuko did, lighting a candle in the meantime, not even bothering to remind her there was a whole _other_ side of the bed that he wasn't occupying because one, he was too tired to care and two, it was Katara. As his best friend, and only person who could really kick his ass in a spar, of course she could share his bed.

Katara settled in the bed, shoulder to shoulder with Zuko, pulling the thin silk blankets over her bare legs, and popped the bottle open. She took a swig of the sweet wine and shoved it in his face when she was finished, the liquid sloshing inside.

He took it without a second thought because it had been a long night and indulging suddenly felt sounded better than sleeping. It tasted as sweet as it smelled, and a warmth flushed through him as it settled in his stomach.

"Thank Agni," he muttered as he passed the bottle back to her.

"Was the dinner really that bad?"

"Yes," was his immediate answer, which caused her to giggle. " _What_?"

"You _looked_ like you were having fun."

She was on her third swig-he scowled at her greed and reached out for the botte.

"It's my job," he said, frowning at how cool her body seemed. He lifted his other hand and idly traced circles on her thigh, spreading warmth into her smooth skin. He took another two swigs to match hers.

"Funny," Katara said as she stole the bottle away. "When I came over you said, and I quote, _yes I'm having fun_."

Zuko snorted at her poor imitation of his voice. He yanked the bottle out of her grip, before it could touch her lips. "I don't sound like that. And I only said that because my advisors were listening."

" _Excuse you_ ," the bottle ripped out of his hands and went immediately to her lips, where a drop rolled lazily down her chin and then her throat and it was probably the most interesting thing he had seen all night. "You _lied_ to me."

Zuko chuckled and settled back into his pillows. She had that authoritative gleam in her eyes that was so fun to play with. "Don't use the Mom Tone on me."

The alcohol felt good. The bed felt good. Katara felt good. He closed his eyes; his hand stopped circling her leg and now lay flat on her thigh.

"And why not?" A weight dropped onto his head, entangled in his hair, playing with the strands.

"I'm not a boy you can order around," he breathed as his body further relaxed. Pudding. That's what he was.

"You're right," Katara said, and he could hear the smile in her words.

She scooted further down, so she was lying at his side; his hand brushed up her leg and lay on her stomach. It was so smooth, so soft. He could feel her racing heartbeat...or was that his?

Did it matter? Maybe not. All that mattered was that she was in his bed and he had never felt more at peace.

"You're very much a man," Katara finished as she pulled him into her, his body relaxing into the bed with ease.

"I'm the worst drinking partner is what I am," Zuko said, though he didn't lift his head to see where the bottle had gone.

"It's my fault. The sun has been down for hours and it's a full moon."

"Of course it is."

"Hey, Zuko?"

"Mmm?"

"Aang wants to talk to me."

And just like that, he was awake, a stone dropped into his stomach, his blood freezing to his core and yeah, that _was_ his heart racing.

"Are you going to go?"

It was silent for a few moments...eternity...then, "I don't know."

"Do...do you love him?"

More eternal silence. Or was it seconds? Long enough.

He sat up, Katara's arms falling to her side, and his body cursing at him to _stay_ even as it begged to move, to do _something_.

"Go to him, then," he said, crossing the room, to the door she had slipped through moments before.

"Zuko."

"You're my best friend," he said flatly. He didn't look back at her because the sight of her in his bed...He scoffed and shook his head. "I want you to be happy."

"Zuko…"

How useless was this? Her _vacation_ to his palace, their familiarity, in his office with his notes and his bed with wine, with her teasing and wild hair and moon eyes and perfect, beautiful skin...all while she was in love with someone else.

He shook his head again and strode from his chamber and into the silent palace. Useless.

* * *

Q: Hey, TB, how'd you spend your eight hours at work?

A: Tweaking this chapter to an inch of its life and it's still not perfect T_T...I hope you enjoyed it anyway. xx


	4. Just Fine

Katara left the next morning.

No goodbye-not that Zuko had been around to receive one, being conveniently buried in paperwork in his office. But she just...slipped out of the palace after breakfast and boarded a ship.

Which was _fine_ , Zuko thought. Completely. Not his business, even.

Katara had left to reunite with her one true love and he was...here.

Running a nation, _not_ stopping in every corridor, remembering random moments. Like the time she bent wine out of a noble's goblet and shared it with him. Or that other time when she floated from the library, having just finished _Love Amongst the Dragons_ (finally).

"Gotta hand it to you, Zuko," she had said, her cheeks flushed a lovely rosy color as she smiled at him, "the Fire Nation really knows romance."

Zuko snorted now. Right. He knew romance. Which was why he had walked away from her and why he didn't stop her from leaving.

Because he was an _idiot_ pretending that everything was just _fine_.

The regret of it all hit hardest a week after she left. He was walking past the turtle duck pond when...he wasn't anymore. He sat with his back against the tree, watching the turtle ducks paddle atop the water.

He looked down at his hands, lying on his red robes, and imagined for a second, that Katara's filled them. Like they had the past two months. Skin that, despite her combat skills, was soft and warm against his.

A shadow fell over his hand and he clenched it, looking back up at the pond with as impassive a look as he could muster.

His uncle sat beside him with a groan and complaint about his aching joints. Zuko said nothing but his uncle's smiling presence somehow made everything that much more stark. Katara was gone, and so, here was his uncle.

The petulant part of Zuko wanted to tell his uncle that he was _fine_ and he didn't need his company. The devoted part, the one that hung onto his every proverb, needed him, which was perhaps why Iroh had finally come.

"This has always been a lovely pond," Iroh began and Zuko nodded, "one of my favorite spots in the palace for its simplicity and peace, but I'm sure you already knew that given how often you visit. I wonder though-have you ever visited at night, when the moon is out?"

Of course he had, Zuko thought.

Katara liked to sit out under the moon, full or not, and practice her bending. That was a sight he never missed, if only because of the exhilaration dancing in her eyes as she did. It was bewitching; those long limbs, white sarashi, and blue eyes limned in glowing moonlight.

 _Of course_ he visited at night.

"Such a tragedy, the moon and sun are," Iroh said, nodding to himself, as if he hadn't planned this tangent.

Zuko almost snorted. _Here it comes_.

"Locked in an eternal dance, destined to circle the other," Iroh continued. "Only meeting in the rarest of circumstances."

"Uncle, this metaphor makes no sense," Zuko cut in, "the moon spirit's lover is-er, _was_ -the ocean spirit."

"Who said anything about love," Iroh sounded vaguely offended, though also amused. "But as you have said, legends can change. And as you have long ago learned, destiny isn't always as it appears. All it takes is a catalyst to start anew. An eclipse may happen, sooner than you think."

Zuko flexed his hands in an effort to rid himself of Katara's phantom hands. "This is pointless. The catalyst already happened, uncle. There's nothing I can do, she's gone."

"How defeatist," Iroh chuckled with a slight shake of his head. "Surely your time with the Avatar would have rid that from you."

Zuko fell silent. His eyes followed the turtle ducks as they circled back toward the reeds on the far side of the pond. He watched them and then swept his eyes over the reeds, then the palace-descending into darkness in the setting sun-and then the sky. To the waning moon.

"I wonder," Iroh began tentatively, "if you have spoken to the dockmaster recently."

Zuko shook his head because why would he?

"Master Katara, it seems, purchased a return ticket when she left," Iroh said. Zuko jerked his head back and stared at his uncle's twinkling eyes. "She is scheduled to arrive in three days."

"But," Zuko began dumbly, all wide eyes and pounding heart, "the Avatar…"

"Perhaps," Iroh slowly smiled, reaching out to give Zuko's shoulder a comforting squeeze that turned into a supportive grip as he stood, "that you have misinterpreted destiny once again."

Iroh then left Zuko there, his laughter fading as he walked further into the palace, leaving Zuko with silence.

Katara was coming back...Zuko threw himself back on the grass, the pointed tips digging through his robes, and ran a hand over his face.

He was either in for the biggest disappointment of the century or he really _was_ an idiot.

Experience told him not to hope for the latter because nothing ever went his way in these matters but...there it was. A little shred of hope in the form of a return fare slip.


	5. Return

Three days was an eternity.

Why did his uncle have to tell him about Katara's return three _days_ in advance?

If any amount of introspection on his banishment days taught him anything, it was that he could brood. He was _very good_ at brooding.

All of Zuko's previous productivity was out the window. He spent most of his time in his study, thinking about all the stupid things he said in the past few weeks.

Things like his doodles-which _seemed_ harmless enough until Zuko remembered Katara _still_ hadn't returned that sheet of notes, which probably meant that she remembered that stupid _suns are stars too_ line he had said…

Things like how he totally messed up her last night here when he didn't turn around and listen to her. She was already in his bed, for Agni's sake, and he just walked out…

 _Who did that_?

The second night found him banging his head on different flat surfaces whenever he remembered, well, anything...until his uncle helpfully suggested that perhaps his time was better spent doing other things.

On the morning of the promised day...Zuko was ninety percent sure he was going to vomit but still managed to find some dignity and don his usual robes...only to take them right back off because being Fire Lord wasn't going to help him in this situation (he was mightily grateful Toph wasn't here for all of this…)

So he went to the docks in a simple tunic and pants. Just Zuko, not the Fire Lord, which meant it would be marginally less humiliating if he got rejected.

The docks were bustling, the air moist and thick with brine. Zuko planted himself on the great stone steps that led from water to city and waited, arms draped over his knees.

He didn't care about the pointing, the staring, the whispers (or the stress his guards were probably going through for sitting so out in the open).

He waited, watching the tide come in and the ships with it, until the water seemed to surge forward with some unnatural strength. Zuko stood as a ship anchored and he wiped his hands on his pants as he watched the passengers disembark.

And there she was.

Any nervousness that he felt was blown away.

Zuko saw her with utter clarity; how the sun fell over her dark curls, which tumbled down her back. How her blue eyes practically glowed against the dark color of her skin and red robes.

Katara walked off the ship the same way she carried herself in his palace: like she was coming home. She was home.

Zuko couldn't help the pull of his lips, not even when their eyes met and her lips pursed together in irritation. A lesser man might think it was a trap; Zuko welcomed the challenge, meeting her halfway.

"Hi," he said lamely, as if to prove to her just how calm he actually was.

"Hi," she flatly responded.

He wasn't entirely prepared for her cool, crisp slap but he also wasn't surprised by it either. Still, it stung, but he probably deserved it. And the fact that she was here to do it made his lips twitch into the smallest of smiles.

Katara squinted at him. "Well? Aren't you going to ask what that was for?"

"Because I'm an idiot," Zuko said. "I should have listened to you. Although, in my defense, _pausing_ when someone asks you if you still love your ex is pretty self explanatory. At least in the moment."

"Well in _my_ defense," Katara started, but bit her lip. "Confessing love is easier said than done."

Zuko's smile grew as her words sunk in. He reached out and took one of her hands in his, rough fingers running over soft. "Uncle said the sun and moon are destined to circle each other for eternity."

Katara's brow quirked skyward. "What? The sun and moon are siblings. Or, uh, were."

Zuko let out a chuckle and shook his head. "Yeah, it's a dumb metaphor, it doesn't make sense. Anyway, the point is I don't want to circle around you, not anymore."

Katara offered a soft smile. "I guess we were circling each other, huh? I loved Aang and you loved Mai but those relationships were just…"

"Not mistakes," Zuko said. He did love Mai, and he felt sorrow when their time together ended but…

"Growing points," Katara finished, poking Zuko with her free hand.

Zuko decided he wanted to hold that hand too and reached for it but, again, Katara met him halfway and entwined her fingers with his.

"We learned a lot from them," she said, watching their hands together. "But they weren't enough. I went to explain that to Aang. For his own closure."

"You don't love him." Not a question this time, because Zuko could clearly see the answer in her eyes and the lean of her body toward his.

"I do," Katara said, "in the same way you love Mai."

"...I'm glad you came to me."

Spirits, he was glad. Not just now, but everytime. The winters she spent here; when she chose him after she and the Avatar broke up; when she wanted to spar; when she wanted a cup of tea…

He suddenly jerked his head away and did his best to scowl. "You can't steal my notes anymore."

Katara had the nerve to pout. "But your doodles are so cute."

It was the pout, Zuko thought later, that did him in. Or it was Katara's hands firmly gripped in his, how they looked so right that Zuko lifted them and placed a small kiss on them. But when he looked back up…

Yeah, it was her pout that had him dip his head and capture her lips, ending the circle.

* * *

Welcome to the conclusion of this humble fic, I hope you liked it.

T'was inspired by the final scene of North and South. Watch if you haven't seen it.


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